Pymouth vs Cardiff City
EFL Championship
Saturday
20th January 2024
Home Park
The most comprehensive preview, detailed analysis and reliable predictions of the EFL Championship fixture between Plymouth and Cardiff City.
Plymouth vs Cardiff City: Preview
Plymouth form analysis
The Pilgrims’s recent Championship form has shown plenty of spirit but lacked consistency. Two wins, two draws and a loss from their past five matches. This run began with a thrilling 3-3 home draw against Birmingham on December 23rd in a see-saw contest. Plymouth then fought back from 2-1 down to draw 2-2 away at Cardiff City on Boxing Day with striker Morgan Whittaker netting both goals. However, despite Ryan Hardie’s late strike Plymouth fell 2-1 at home to Southampton three days later.
The New Year opened in dramatic fashion as the Pilgrims shared six goals in an entertaining 3-3 home draw with Watford on January 1st, led by Whittaker again. Most recently, Plymouth had to settle for a 1-1 away draw at Huddersfield Town on January 13th after squandering the lead gained through another Whittaker goal. Based on these results, Plymouth has proven exciting to watch but prone to defensive lapses, an area which must improve if they are to make a late push away from the relegation zone.
Cardiff City form analysis
Cardiff City’s recent Championship form has been poor. One win, one draw and three defeats from their last five matches. This run began with a 2-1 away victory at Sheffield Wednesday on December 23rd thanks to late goals from Kane Ahearne-Grant and a Josh Famewo own-goal. However in their next game Cardiff conceded a stoppage time equalizer to draw 2-2 at home with Plymouth.
Things worsened as Cardiff suffered back-to-back 2-0 home losses to high flying Leicester and Leeds United, finding themselves comfortably beaten in both games. The Bluebirds did manage to grab an away win on New Year’s Day, edging Queens Park Rangers 2-1 thanks to goals from Devarn Drummond-Green and Perry Ng. But this result provided only a brief respite as Cardiff remain mid table after their recent slump. Tightening up a porous defense must be the priority for the manager.
